Ryanair announces Budapest–Eilat-Ovda as airline’s first route to Israel

Budapest Airport has confirmed that Ryanair has announced that it will begin operations from the Hungarian capital to Eilat-Ovda Airport in Israel with a twice-weekly service from 7 November.

Facing no direct competition on the airport pair, the carrier’s arrival in the Israeli market at Budapest gives Ryanair an immediate 13% share of flights and seats across all routes to the Middle Eastern country, which will now be served by three carriers from BUD.

Ryanair has already added more than 3,000 weekly seats to the Hungarian gateway this year, with its stake at Budapest Airport growing 1% between August 2014 and August 2015, a sizeable increase at the rapidly-growing, award-winning airport which has seen a 12% traffic increase so far in 2015.

Budapest Airport CEO Jost Lammers commented, “I am so pleased that Ryanair will now also be serving our operations to Israel, and has chosen Budapest Airport as its first link with Eilat-Ovda, and indeed Israel. There is clearly bi-directional demand for the Eilat-Ovda to Budapest market and all visitors can be assured of excellent service from the best airport in the region while appreciating the growing popularity of Budapest.”